Winnings Ways

By Joginder Singh

This book is a masterpiece by Sh. Joginder Singh. IPS (Retd) who is a former Director of the CBl. Hailing from a poor farmer's family, he scaled the pinnacles of success through sheer motivation and hard work. The saga of success he has inundated through his win-win story is worth emulating for any young aspirant for achievements and glory in life: to he on top!

The mantra he unveils for success, through this book, is potent enough to lift the young and ambitious to the highest peaks. These winning lips will inspire your morale to achieve greater glories you simply need to tune up your mindset and hone your skills. Imbibe this win-win mantra: Victory is yours!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9788128828164

Book preview

1

Discovering Yourself

If we want to get more out of our life, we need to become more conscious and attentive, as to how we spend our time. We also need to assess as to what activities we engage in, and whether they add VALUE to our life or drain our energy and are the best use of our time. It is very important to determine the kind of things we do at our work. It is equally important to be conscious of as to how we spend our spare time, and the kind of people we spend our time with, or the conversations we engage in or the social or official programmes and meetings we attend. We need to look for ways to constantly streamline our techniques and systems, with a view to eliminate unproductive activities or negative conversations, interruptions and distractions. By monitoring our time, with attentiveness and watchfulness, we can eliminate unproductive activities. Conversely, we can do things that we enjoy, or that develop us personally or professionally. It is important not to allow others to gain control of our time and direct our life. This is the only way by which we can have greater levels of personal satisfaction and achievements. For instance, I went to a five-star hotel for dinner last week, which was hosted by a private airline. There was only one person known to me in the party, who is a former Home Secretary. He also was in the same condition. So we stuck with each other till I left after the party- after 45 minutes by my stopwatch. It becomes a frustrating exercise when you are among unknown faces. You have to keep on smiling and keep your jaws stretched with an artificial grin.

I excused myself at the end of 45 minutes and did not stay on for dinner, which would have meant another wait for two hours. In fact, I was one of the late arrivals, and the first to leave. This enabled me to do one hour of reading before going to sleep. Whatever I do, or want to do, I first assess whether I can make the BEST use of my time, energy and expertise. If something does not meet this criteria, then either I totally cut off from such an activity or engagement or give it the minimum time or combine it with some other useful activity. It is equally important to focus on doing the requisite things to meet your objectives, or goals, or your organisation’s goals. Whatever you do must fit within your overall mission and should move you toward your goals. I must also admit that before I realised how much of time I was wasting, I had been spending hours and hours in the inane company of many known and unknown people. I have never met or interacted with such people again in my life.

Decide on your goal and be clear on your strategy and the road map to get to your destination. Your strategies should help in realising your own and or your organisation’s objectives. Your team members, if any, should focus their time on activities that move you closer to those aspirations. Periodically, there should be an ongoing EVALUATION in order to assess the effectiveness, of your current approach. Check your road map regularly to ascertain if you are on the right track. As the District Superintendent or police chief of Bidar district in Karnataka, I had made it a practice to evaluate the crime control performance of all police officers working under me. I would review their work in a monthly meeting. I continued this practice till my retirement, including as Director CBI. It enabled me to know what was happening in the organisation and whether each person was conscious of his responsibility and role.

It is equally important to assess your personal effectiveness — whether it is accomplishing what you wish to achieve. A feel good factor, about your daily work and routine, is essential for achieving your objectives. There is no better way to do it, except to set and implement mid or periodical review points or checks.

If you are still struggling in achieving your objective or in doing whatever you want to do, then you must ask yourself whether you need additional information or you don’t have the required expertise or may be you just need to look at your problem differently. Don’t resist the struggle; uncover the source of obstacles so that you can move beyond it. Clarify your needs and wants. There are a lot of things that you might want to do, or get the same done, but that may not be necessary, or appropriate for you to do. Get rid of what is not essential for your goal’s achievement. Become skilled at delegating those things that can be equally or best accomplished by others. Link answerability and responsibility with the delegation: Concentrate only on those things that you must do yourself, or on the things that will help you develop personally or professionally. The cost of spending your time negligently is that you are focussing on the wrong things and thus you would need to spend an equal amount of time to get the right results. Remember that you cannot recoup or repossess lost time. The crux of effective delegation is to most effectively use your own time resources and that of your team, if you have one, most efficiently.

Nobody can be a specialist or an authority on everything. It is futile, to try to be expert of everything. If you do so you may become a jack of all trades, but master of none. Determine the best use of your time. Delegate or, if possible, postpone or eliminate the rest. The art of delegation is an essential ingredient of leadership and personal effectiveness. Delegating means not being an obsessed control freak and letting others do their work. This is one way not to be in a constant state of struggle and stress. If all the time you are resenting others you will not be happy and neither will be those approximate to you.

Learning to focus on the present is the only way to excel in whatever you are doing. The present time is the only reality. It is in this that you can recognise whether you are using your time effectively and without stress. Thinking about worrying as to what will happen tomorrow or next week or next month or next year means living in the FUTURE. Keep in mind that worry is neither your well-wisher nor cares for your well-being. On the contrary, it leads to stress.

Worry removes you from the present and abandons you in the gloomy future. By worrying about as to what will happen you would be sacrificing your future and devastating the present. One way of trouncing and massacring worry is by staying busy. Being busy puts worry on the back burner. If you want to be effective in any sphere, you have to begin by taking control of your time and staying put in the present. The only assistance for your personal effectiveness is your time. It is upto each one of us as to how we invest it, or spend it or squander it. In whichever way you use it, it keeps on ticking.

But without a CLEAR IDEA of what you want to accomplish, there is every chance that you would forget most of the time your sub-goals, which will lead you to your main goals. In fact I find that unless I put most things to writing, I will either neglect them or forget them. My wife told me last week that she wanted to start with a new telephone diary. I said that since I was going to the market, I would get it. However, in the list of things to be done, I forgot to add it, thinking that I would not forget it. It totally escaped my mind, though I visited a stationery shop to purchase fax roll for my fax machine. Writing a daily do list is as important as writing your business plan. It is certainly not a waste of time. In fact, it can save plenty of time. Something emerges when you put empty vague ideas out of your head and consolidate them on paper. Surprisingly, it makes it easier to move forward, on to whatever you want to do, whether it is a project related to your profession or your business or a simple to-do list.

I have also seen that when you decide on what to do, quite often measures, methods and persons appear out of nowhere, which can help you to accomplish your goals. It may appear magical, but it is true. My old tape recorder, which I had been having for the last eight years, started giving trouble. I wanted to buy a new one and I was not sure whether the shopkeeper would sell me genuine or fake stuff. A visitor came to see me, to discuss some of his problems. I asked him about his background. He replied that he had worked in a top audio company. I asked him as to how could I be sure that the music system I was purchasing was not a second-hand, but nicely maintained or cleaned piece, as well as not a fake. He took me to a genuine dealer, who supplied me what I wanted. If I had not put this items on my do list, I probably would not have asked for any help. Making your DO LIST, or a business plan together, comprises nothing more than asking yourself a series of QUESTIONS about what you want to do either today or on a long term basis in your job. It also entails revising what you have planned, to mirror your changing needs and focus. It is equally applicable in developing and focussing on your entrepreneurial activities, monetary activities or needs, production goals, possible potential barriers, and impediments, and developing your daily business or personal strategies or programmes.

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2

Igniting Your Mind

If you do what you love, you will never consider your work a burden and never even think that you are working. Says Arnold Toynbee, The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. The following suggestions can help in bringing about the realisation of this goal. Form a habit of enjoying getting up in the morning and going to work. If you feel that you are unwilling to put in extra hours, then it is time to look into your energy and attitude level. Make a list of the things which energise you, as well as the things which exhaust you. Is there a pattern in this state of affairs, and whether it is somebody, or some happenings which generate this kind of feeling? If you are not happy with your life or work, spend a few minutes to ascertain the basis for the same. Is the unhappiness due to the nature of your job, or the organisation you are working in, or the kind of boss or colleagues or subordinates you have, or for any other reason?

India is still the employers market. Most people have to make do with whatever comes their way. So they have to improvise and make the best of even bad circumstances. Equally it is important to assess whether your expertise and proficiencies are up-to-date and whether you have kept pace with the newest technological development. For instance, long after the computers were introduced in the country, I kept myself at a distance from them. One reason was that the old-generation computers were too huge, too cumbersome and too tough to handle. Opening of the files was too taxing. But once I put myself to learn handling of the computers, I became their biggest protagonist. In fact, my regret has been that I wasted three years of my precious life in not catching up with the latest skills and the benefits of the more efficient working through the computers. But I console myself by saying, ‘better late than never’. My interest in computers led me to computerise the working of the CBI as well as other organisations, which I have headed while in service. Sometimes, when it is difficult to handle any technology, it is best to be patient and master the skills. It is of the highest importance to update your skills. A competent and able person will never be unemployable. He can dictate the price tag of his services.

Analyse your strengths and weaknesses and how they affect your interests. Keep your strengths at the highest level and give your best to your organization. It will do wonders for your self- esteem. You will enjoy using your abilities and will be more competent for the next higher job.

Set clear, concrete goals for what you want to achieve in your life and then take specific action to get there, by acquiring additional qualifications, or mastering new expertise/technology, and expanding your social and official network. It is only you who can take charge of your career. Examine the choices available and make an effort to select the best.

Consider what you value, need, want and do well. Make sure that your attitude supports your careers. Every day should be treated as a step in the journey of life. Opportunities are knocking all the time. It is simply a question of spotting one and taking charge of it. You can only be lucky if you are prepared for the break or the change. You should always be willing to accept the changes and challenges. Anything that we do in life, that helps us to develop and mature personally, is a step towards personal development. Consistency is extremely important in any programme, whether it is exercising or personal development or acquiring new proficiencies or skills for success, in any area. Having been a policeman for over 36 years, I have always laid a lot of emphasis on physical fitness and exercise. There were times when I felt that jogging for 5 kilometres daily was a must for me. Now I am content to do brisk walking due to age factor. But if I skip the exercise of walking, then it takes me at least three days to get back to the peak momentum. It is the same way if you slacken in your profession or in your job. If you neglect your business as a self-employed person, it may take weeks, if not months, to acquire your clientele back or get to the same profit level. It is for this reason that small self-employed people, doing their own business, do not take any holiday or just very few. An important secret of success in every area of life is consistency. My cousin brother is a doctor in USA. He finds it convenient to send tickets to his parents to visit him and stay with him in USA, than himself come to India. When I asked him the reason, he said that he could not afford to close his clinic for weeks. If he did, he would lose his patients and it will affect his income.

It is important to be consistently rigorous and demanding of yourself and not to make exceptions, unless you are not physically fit or are sick. Omissions kill constancy, steadiness and reliability and are poor justifications. As human beings, we cannot be perfect and so we feel that we are not succeeding. Anthony Robbins says, Sometimes we think we’re losing the game of life, when we’re really winning, simply because we’re not keeping score. It’s easy to become discouraged and forget what we have achieved and from where. It is equally important to take a step back and to pat ourselves on the back for what we have achieved.

Take stock of your life and write down what you have achieved. List all the things you’ve done in your life, in spite of insurmountable obstacles. Each one of us has had accomplishments, which could compare with the best in the world. My late father, Mahant Kartar Singh, was only a matriculate, who had passed his 10th standard in 1935. He was desirous of educating his children, as he wanted them to become something in life. It was difficult but he and my mother found Rs. 20 per month for my education in high school in Ferozpore, for two years, from 1953 to 1955 and later on from 1955 to 1961 a princely sum of Rs 125 per month in those days for my college education. Just before completing my education, that is Master of Arts degree, I appeared for the Indian Police Service and was selected in the first attempt and in the first examination. I retired from the high position of Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, on the high salary, which the Government of India, can offer to any of its civil servants. Considering that I had no public school education and no background of anybody in the top position, it can definitely be considered as one of the top achievements of a country lad, with only a village school background. Similarly my wife, Surinder, joined the Indian Information Service three years after the marriage. She finally retired, after 35 years of service, as an Additional Secretary level officer, to the Government of India. This is no mean achievement for a lady who had a husband and three daughters to look after at home.

We need to exercise patience. The trouble is that in the present fast-paced culture and life people want miracles and success to happen in minutes, hours and days. No change happens in an instant. The only change which happens, in minutes, is of your changing your clothes. Just as in business, people take an inventory at the end of the year to assess their achievements and failures, we also need to adopt the same strategy, to periodically assess our accomplishments, fiascos and disappointments. We need to constantly question ourselves, whether we are on the right track to our goals. There is no such thing as permanence and security. We have to constantly work towards our goals. After we have achieved one goal, it is time to move to something bigger and better. Giving up in the face of a failure is not the answer to deal with life’s problems. It is having faith and continuing to be consistent in our plans which will lead to their fulfilment. It is an excellent idea to talk to the achievers to gain new insights.

Once during prize distribution in the DAV College, Nakodar in March, 2002, I asked a girl, who had won a vast majority of prizes, the secret of her distinction. She replied that she had made it a habit to study at least ten hours a day and there was no other factor behind her success. Her consistency was the secret of her achievement. By sharing the experience of others we can get valuable feedback, perspectives and opinions. This way, we can automatically learn from others consciously or unconsciously. It is only the petty people who talk negatively about other people. It is for each one of us to undertake a personal development programme to transform our lives. It cannot be done unless you have a commitment. It is only in this way that you can take charge of your life, your progress and your career.

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3

Vision For The Future

If you want to get the most out of the 24 hours, which God gives to each one of us every day, the following ideas can help:

Create a to-do list while using your master list of your overall goals and aims as a guide. Inscribe a to-do list every day. Such a list should not be either too long or too short. Five to seven tasks on your to-do list is an ideal number. Start working on those items in the order of their importance in your perception. Items should be put in such a way that you have a variety of work, that is important and complicated items interspersed with lighter matters. Have a mix of A (high), B (medium) and C (low) tasks to be done. The list should reflect at least 70% ‘A’ priority items, 20% ‘B’ priority items and 10% ‘C’ priority jobs. Continue working on your to do list, till it is completed. In fact, a still better approach which I use is to scribble down the jobs or tasks as they occur to me. If I do not make a record of them, then I tend to forget the same. I always carry a piece of paper and pen with me whenever I go out. It has come handy in noting down important items, including telephone numbers or other points.

Along with a to do list, it is equally important to prepare a not-to-do list. A not-to-do list should generally include that you want to stop doing, as well as the activities that you do not enjoy, including the social activities like lunches or dinners, or long drawn phone conversations, or interruptions, from unwanted visitors, or visits to markets or helping someone for any activity you do not like, and never feel any satisfaction. Bear in mind that it lies within your power to say ‘No’. You do not have to suffer to please others, or do chores which de-energise you or sap your good mood. The choice is yours.

Catch up on enough sleep. Sleep is a balm to refresh and do more. Without adequate sleep, human body tends to feel exhausted. Most people, depending upon their job or work and body cycle, need between six to eight hours of sleep. Some people need a little bit more to feel revived and invigorated. It is vital to determine as to how many hours of sleep you need, to be most energised and then try to get that needed sleep each night. Apart from sleep in the night, some people need a short nap during the day. I am one of them. A short nap, or rest on an easy chair with stretched legs, can do wonder. Unless heavens are falling, I try not to skip my post-lunch nap. I have done it during my entire service of over 36 years. The result was that I was fresh for the later part of the day also, right upto late night working sometime. Of course, only the top people can have this luxury. As a Superintendent of Police in the Central Bureau of Investigation, I would use the lunch break for walk near my office in the Parliament Street in New Delhi, in 1971. However, as its head, that is the Director, I made my lunch and 20 minutes relaxation a religious creed. My instructions were to take no phone calls from anybody during the lunch time, with the exception of the Prime Minister. Nonetheless, if you are at a middle or lower level, then I would suggest your skipping a full lunch and going for something light. A full stomach tends to make you drowsy. Whenever I know that it would not be possible to have a lunch break, then I make it a point to skip lunch and take tea only. Nevertheless to be refreshed, and have adequate sleep, an effort should be made to go to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each day. This enables our bodies to get into a routine and form a new rest and work cycle. If sometimes you find that you cannot get up, use an alarm clock, or fix a reminder time, in your mobile phone, if you have one, to wake up. Try not to sleep either more or less than your needed time. If you do so, you might feel sluggish or tired or bleary or groggy or cranky.

Despite our best efforts, we occasionally tend to slacken and feel low. I had noticed this when working in the Government. One way, which I had adopted to overcome this problem, was to take short energy breaks. These breaks were in the form of cups of tea or coffee, with sandwiches or biscuits with a colleague or important visitors. We need food, which is just like the energy- giving fuel for the car. We need to replenish our energy all the time. This is the only way you can get the most out of your time and day. If you are full of energy and vim, you can tackle any tough job and you will be in a better frame of mind. It is said that a hungry man is an angry man. I have noticed that when you try to meet a person just before the lunch or tea break or when he is feeling hungry, his approach will be brusque to the point of rudeness. Remember that the best time to see anybody for getting your work done is just when he is fresh and definitely not when he is hungry. Whenever you feel hungry, or you are feeling light- headed, take a short break and have a snack or some fruit, as long as it is something nutritious. You cannot be energetic and stressed at the same time. Do anything which increases your energy level, like taking a short nap, or an invigorating 10-minute walk or nibbling on some energy-giving food stuff or a glass of juice. You will feel a world of difference in your approach to life and work. Classify and demarcate your working time. If you need to work regularly on something important everyday, then the ideal course would be to identify the time, or hours you plan to devote to that work, or that project and block those hours in your daily schedule. For instance, you could earmark time like exercise time from 8 to 9 AM, getting ready and breakfast from 9 AM to 10 AM phone hour from 10 to 11AM, opening of your computer or e-mailing from 11 to 12 AM, no-disturbance hours from 12 to 2 PM. Pad this timing with ten minutes of break, which should be utilised for moving about and stretching your legs. In fact, I have such a plan for the whole day. Once in a while, it may not be possible to stick to your time-table, but your effort should be to stick to the same. For example, if a visitor or a friend drops in at the time reserved for my exercise or walk, I politely invite him, to join me for the exercise, and say that we could chat while exercising or walking. Most people get the hint and then ask me as to when they could see me, later on.

Give Yourself Some Time

While you are working and doing all the important things during the course of a day, be kind to yourself. Schedule some time for yourself for doing the things you like to do, like reading or making a phone call, or just standing and staring. I must confess that this is one engagement I, like millions of our other country men, break often. I have started keeping it up in parts. For instance, after the walk, I just like to sit and stare or linger, while doing-window shopping. If you are keeping appointments with others, it is only fair that you keep appointment with yourself also.

Interruptions are a fact of life. They are bound to be there as long as we live. The interruptions can be from co-workers constantly stopping by to chat, from the bosses who might call you for unscheduled meetings or discussions or from